Tag: trends

A Heightened Awareness of Accommodations

At a recent Toastmasters officers meeting in a popular coffee house, the club secretary asked me to switch seats with him. While I didn’t have a problem switching, I was curious why he wanted me to move. He informed me that as our meeting’s notetaker—and left-handed person—he needed a space conducive for taking notes. My seat was the only space at the table that met his need.

On my journey to becoming an eLearning Expert I have taken the Gallup Clifton Strengths Survey several times to discover my Signature Themes. My top 5 are very consistent—I always get Futuristic. I nod in agreement as the Clifton Strengths survey says, “The future fascinates you.” I guess that explains why I‘m drawn to articles written by futurists.

Many people are familiar with the concept of the digital divide—the idea that as technology continues to advance at a remarkable pace, there is a growing gulf between the “haves” and the “have-nots” when it comes to access to, and adoption of technologies. Many in instructional design consider these technologies essential for our day-to-day careers: internet access, easy access to information, and ubiquitous WiFi. Which makes it challenging when we design content for those who don’t have easy access to those things.

We live in a culture, and work in a field, that prizes and demands efficiency. A million things always need to be done immediately, and at least a thousand projects needed launch yesterday. We make endless to-do lists, debate time tracking and performance metrics, hire project managers by the truckload, and do everything in our power to wring every last drop of “efficiency” out of our daily lives.

The term “elearning ecosystem” appears more and more frequently in eLearning writings. As a leader in eLearning, I like this metaphor—not because it’s scientifically-based and sounds cool (although it is and it does), but because I find the metaphor reflects some foundational changes influencing eLearning instructional design. Continue reading “Experts and eLearning Ecosystems”

We’ve put together an infographic of OER data for you to share with your colleagues, department chairs, and administrators. Let’s build relationships and keep the conversation going to increase OER awareness and adoption on campuses across the world. Continue reading “The Building Blocks of OER”

In our OER series, we’ve explored how cost-friendly open educational resources (OER) can replace the expense of traditional textbooks. We’ve looked at where to find OER as well as how to choose quality materials. By now, you’re probably wondering how to bring OER into your institution.

You walk into the campus student bookstore. Classes started last week, and you just got paid at your part-time, minimum wage student job. You nervously add the cost of the stack of textbooks in your head.

Innovation in the digital world seems to move at the speed-of-light. As I wonder what the conversations around digital learning will center on in five years, I believe the lasting dialogue will be “personalized learning.”

Those of us in the world of educational technology know of the rhetoric around the term, but we do not seem to have a shared understanding of its meaning. Many use the omnipresent phrase to refer to efforts to tailor instruction to each student’s unique needs and preferences. Continue reading “Personalized Learning”